PRINTER NOT MONKEYING AROUND NOW

Sure, he trained chimpanzees for NASA back in the early days of the space program, including Ham, who rocketed into space in 1961 and onto the cover of Life magazine.

True, he ran a dairy plant in Thailand for five years, with servants and drivers to wait on himself and his family.

But he finds his job now -- owner of Executive Type and Press in Lighthouse Point -- more enjoyable than any of his past ventures in money-making.

"I am living my own creation. I am having the most fun right now. And I expect to have more fun tomorrow," said Gilbert, who lives with his wife Judy and two daughters in Lighthouse Point.

This pronouncement came from the burly, bearded man as his sat in his small office, a white fan rotating above and a pulsating computer screen behind him.

Fourteen years ago, Gilbert walked into a direct mail and printing company to have his resume updated. Several months later, he walked out the owner.

The two men who ran the business liked his resume and hired him as a consultant.

But their firm, which Gilbert describes as "under-capitalized," couldn't afford to pay him. Gilbert, in fact, loaned one of the owners enough money to make his car payment. To secure the loan, Gilbert took his percentage in the business.

He was never paid back and the other owner decided to move away.

And like tha, Gregg Gilbert, 46, became a print shop owner.

Gregg Gilbert is a man who seems always to be in the right place at the right time.

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The call came while Gregg Gilbert was a graduate psychology student at the University of Denver in 1961.

It was the Pentagon.

"How would you like to train chimpanzees for the space program?" Gilbert was asked.

Already a member of the U.S. Air Force Reserves, Gilbert had been pestering the local ROTC guys about a job. The next thing he knew, he was living at a base in New Mexico, training monkeys.

"I was delighted to take the job. It was right about the time that (President John F.) Kennedy said we were going to get to the moon by the end of the decade. Back then, the space program was like God or motherhood."

Much of the research was designed to show how certain conditions would affect humans in space by simulating the effects on animals. No one was sure space travel was safe for humans.

Another goal was to determine whether a member of the ape family could operate a spaceship.

Being associated with the space program had its benefits.

Gilbert was part of an elite group and he sensed that even some of the four- star generals who came to view his research thought he was a hero.

"Robert McNamara (then secretary of defense) came through. We had trained a chimp to play tic-tac-toe so we put on a little show for him. And the chimp beat him!"

Gilbert also became a member of the exclusive "500Gs Club" -- those who had cumulatively experienced 500 times the force of gravity on their bodies by way of a special sled. The sled stopped suddenly after traveling a specific speed and distance in order to test the strength of straps that would hold the astronauts in their seats during re-entry.

He had to ask for one last shot on the sled to earn that distinction, he said.

"To take the test on the sled, you had to shave a big circle in your chest hair," he said, his finger encircling the spot. "You would go to a swimming pool and they would stare at you and whisper 'There's one of them.'

"I didn't have a fear in the world about safety. I was a wild kid then; I didn't care about those things."

But to him, the glory belonged to the astronauts.

"I met a few of the astronauts at the Officers' Club. I met John Glenn. At that time he had already taken his first flight (into space). He was a hero to me."

Gilbert recognized the shortcomings of using animals for space travel, as did the higher-ups at NASA who were in favor of sending men, not monkeys, into space.

Some of the work his department did, he admitted, had little application to the space program -- such as administering LSD to chimps.

Gilbert left the program in 1964 and landed a job with a Chicago advertising firm, handling a rather important account -- Nestle's Taster's Choice coffee. He had worked there about four years when a phone call again determined his future.

A friend offered him a job running a dairy plant in Bangkok, Thailand.

He accepted.

The company sold dairy products throughout the region -- Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. Although the war in Vietnam was raging, the Gilberts say they were isolated from it.

"I took a couple of trips to Saigon. I never saw any of the fighting, no terrorist activity," Gilbert said.

The whole Gilbert clan loved their stay in Thailand. They had maids and chauffeurs and, when they returned home, a real sense of culture shock.

Judy Gilbert, a day older than Gregg and the mother of their three children, described that period of time with excitement.

"That (job offer) was a very large surprise. It was a terrific experience. We learned a lot," she said. "You don't live in a foreign country for five years and not learn. The children were four years old and one was two months old."

Gilbert said he left the position because he saw no room for advancement; his boss loved his job and had no plans to leave.

But a month after Gilbert left the plant, the man died. The new position Gilbert was offered was in Vietnam. The year was 1971. Gilbert said no.

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Judy, Gregg's wife of 23 years, said what appears to be luck is really planning.

She summed up her husband: "He has tried very hard to get where he wanted and it has worked out."

"He thinks. I like people who think," added Michael Kami, a self-employed business consultant and close friend of Gilbert.

"He probably could be a senior vice president of a large corporation but he does not like the 9-to-9 day. His people like him. The production he gets out of them is amazing," Kami said. "He works hard but he is also very smart."

Gilbert hasn't forgotten the lessons he learned while training the chimps -- such as how to use positive, rather than negative, reinforcement with his family as well as his employees.

When one of his children comes home on time, they are thanked. He's been known to take a $20 bill out of his cash register to stuff into an employee's hand for a job well done.

Since settling in Lighthouse Point, the wanderlust has subsided . . . somewhat.

"I miss the traveling. We went to the Bahamas, to Mexico City. We're going to Venezuela for a fishing trip," Gilbert said.

Once the children are out of school -- about four years from now -- the Gilberts may leave Lighthouse Point far, far behind. The Gilbert children Lisa, Michele and Dirk are aged 18, 21 and 22 respectively.